Syx's
office--were detailed to gratify the universal desire for information.
President Boon not only submitted the specimens of ore-bearing rock
which he had brought from the mine to careful analysis, but also
appealed to several of the greatest living chemists and mineralogists
to aid him; but they were all equally mystified. The green substance
contained in the ore, although differing slightly from ordinary
chrysolite, answered all the known tests of that mineral. It was
remembered, however, that Dr. Syx had said that they would be likely
to mistake the substance for chrysolite, and the result of their
experiments justified his prediction. Evidently the doctor had gone a
stone's-cast beyond the chemistry of the day, and, just as evidently,
he did not mean to reveal his discovery for the benefit of science,
nor for the benefit of any pockets except his own.
Notwithstanding the failure of the chemists to extract anything from
Dr. Syx's ore, the public at large never doubted that the secret would
be discovered in good time, and thousands of prospectors flocked to
the Teton Mountains in search of the ore.
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